If you are ever staying a night in Nan then Phai Lueng Guesthouse is worth seeking out. We found this place by chance as we were riding around Nan looking for a place to stay and this place turned out to be a real gem of a guesthouse. The building is a refurbished teak house and everything looked quite new, there was a chioce of either fan or air con rooms, I plugged for a fan room at 250 baht an night which was a real bargain. The room was real clean with crisp white bed linen and soft pillows, there was also a modern attached bathroom with hot water and cable TV in the room. The Staff were friendly and there was a small restaurant out front which served some real good food.

As thing were quiet with business in Chiang Mai we thought we would escape the heat of the city for a few days and get a bit of beach time in on Koh Chang.

My first time in Koh Chang was 11 years ago now and I remember staying in a bamboo bungalow on White Sand Beach for a couple of hundred Baht a night. Things have changed a lot in Koh Chang and the last of the bamboo bungalows on White Sand Beach have finally gone replaced by upscale resorts. A few years back a few girly bars had moved into to the south part of White Sand, on this visit I notice that these are also on the increase. Anyway, yes things have changed on Koh Chang but I still love this place and along with Koh Phangan is one of my favourite island destinations in Thailand. As for bamboo bungalows and other rustic beach side accommodation there is still plenty around on the beaches heading south. However on this trip Tack and I did stay in a relatively plush resort, this was mainly for the convenience of having wifi internet in the room as I did have a couple of hours of emailing everyday.

Unlike other parts of Thailand, Songkran is full-on for four whole days in Chiang Mai and pretty much the whole city gets involved. The area around the moat becomes a grid-locked jam of traffic and people engaged in four days of water throwing anarchy and mayhem. Great fun!!!! This was my 7th Songkran in Thailand and the 5th in Chiang Mai however this year was a little different as we had the little Pinky with us most of the time and she was old enough to start getting involved. She loved it!

Since living in Northern Thailand I have begun to tire of waterfalls, it doesn’t seem like a whole week can pass before I find myself staring at yet another waterfall. We have travelled the road between Pai and Chiang Mai numerous times and Tack has always nagged me to head down the side track to Mok Fa Waterfall. Well this time we did and I was pleasantly surprised. Even thoughit was the dry season the water cascade was still impressive but the best thing was the crystal clear water in the pool at the base which was deep enough for a swim….Nice!

On the way to Pai we made a quick stop at Pong Duet Hot springs as this was only as short detour off our route. They have a pleasant 800 meter nature trail to the bathing areas but me and Tack were feeling lazy and the day was already hot so we skipped thenature trail and took the motorbike straight to the hot spring baths. At the bathing area they had a couple of nice looking hot spring swimming pools as well as private cabins or if you preferred you could just dangle your feet in the natural hot spring stream. As it was just after mid day and the day was already a scorcher the last thing I felt like doing was jumping in an even hotter bath of water so I gave the bathing a miss however I will remember to come back if I am making the Pai to Chiang Mai trip by motorbike in the cold season as this would be a great spot to warm up while crossing the mountains between Pai and Chiang Mai.

As mum is in town we are trying to keep her entertained by taking her out to a couple of local attractions each week. Last weekend we took her out to Opkhan National Park. Of all the accessible National Parks in the province this is relatively unknown but strangely enough it is only about 30 minutes drive from the city of Chiang Mai. The park is easily accessible by motorbike or a car is fine in the dry season although the last couple of km are by dirt track which could get a bit slippery in the wet season. Most national parks in Thailand charge the standard entrance fee of 20 baht for Thais and 200 Baht for foreigners but for some reason there is no charge here. Near to the area where we parked up the car there is a camp site and a couple of national park owned bungalows for rent the river runs through this area from a natural gorge which is only a few minutes walk away from the car parking area. We brought some food to eat by the river and Pinky played in the water. We took a short walk up river to the gorge. As we had Pinky with us and mum was still getting over her knee op. we didn’t walk too far but there is a well trodden trail following the river deeper into the park and would make a good self guided hike if you were feeling energetic. I am sure we will be back again soon.!

Been busy for the last week or so and I havn’t had a chance to post this short vid from The Loi Kratong Festival. This was my fourth or fifth Loi Krationg in Chiang Mai so not much to get excited about really. Tack and I headed down to Narawat Bridge to float our Kratongs and set off a lantern.

Today was Pinky’s first day at nursery school. After looking at three schools we went for Little Stars mainly because of their bilingual programme. One day is taught in Thai and the next in English. We are starting her quite young at 18 months and were not to sure if she would be quite ready but when we dropped her off this morning she immediately went over to the other children and started to play. We went back at 12:00 to pick her up and she didnt want to leave!